Unification sublayer for multi-connection communication

ABSTRACT

Managing Internet Protocol (IP) flows to produce multi-connection communication is contemplated, such as but not necessarily limited to managing a single IP flow simultaneously through disparate physical layers (PHYs). A unification sublayer may be configured as a logical interface between a network layer and a data link layer and/or the disparate PHYs to facilitating partitioning of IP packets included in the IP flow.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/562,677, filed Dec. 6, 2014, which in turn claims the benefit of U.S.provisional application No. 61/912,733 filed Dec. 6, 2013, thedisclosures and benefits of which are hereby incorporated in theirentireties by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to managing Internet Protocol (IP) flows,such as but not necessarily limited to managing a single IP flowsimultaneously through disparate physical layers (PHYs).

BACKGROUND

The Wi-Fi Alliance defines Wi-Fi as any wireless local area network(WLAN) products complying with the Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers' (IEEE) 802.11 standards, such as but notnecessarily limited to IEEE 802.11: Telecommunications and informationexchange between systems—Local and metropolitan area networks—Specificrequirements—Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) andPhysical Layer (PHY) Specifications, 2012, the disclosures of which arehereby incorporated by reference in their entireties herein. Long-TermEvolution (LTE) relates to a standard for wireless communication ofhigh-speed data for mobile phones and other device based on the GlobalSystem for Mobile Communications (GSM)/Enhanced Data rates for GSMEvolution (EDGE) and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System(UMTS)/High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) network technologies developed bythe 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) as specified in itsRelease 8 and 9 document series and/or TS 36.201, 36.300, 36.304,36.306, 36.321, 36.322, 36.323, 36.331, 36.401 and 36.306, thedisclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentireties herein.

Integrated Wi-Fi/LTE small cells are becoming more prevalent. The Wi-Fiaccess point (AP) and the LTE eNodeB (eNB) maybe collocated in thisarchitecture and may share some of the resources (power, probablyantennas, etc.). In a home environment, the same backhaul can be usedfor Wi-Fi and LTE traffic (DOCSIS, DSL, etc.), see Multiple-InputMultiple-Output (MIMO) communications, such as that associated with U.S.patent application Ser. Nos. 14/181,640, 14/181,641, 14/181,643 and14/181,645, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated byreference in their entireties herein. The LTE and Wi-Fi radios, in suchintegrated access points, work independently on licensed and unlicensedbands, respectively. In addition, many wireless devices have both LTEchips and Wi-Fi chips embedded in them (smart phones, 4G/Wi-Fi tablets,etc.). In a home environment, such devices coexist with Wi-Fi-onlydevices (laptops, smart watches, Wi-Fi-only tablets, etc.) and LTE-onlydevices (regular cell phones, etc.).

A dual-radio wireless device is either in a single-mode (LTE-only orWi-Fi only), or in case both radios are active simultaneously, theyserve different Internet Protocol (IP) flows. In the former case, the IPpackets use the services delivered by either the Wi-Fi PHY/MAC or theLTE PHY/MAC. In the latter case, although both radios can be activesimultaneously, two different IP connections are needed (e.g. twodifferent care-of-address in mobile IP) and the radios serve differentIP flows. In a typical architecture, both radios, and hence bothlicensed and unlicensed spectrum, cannot serve a single or the same IPflow. In addition, the two radios work independently and the PHY and MACparameters chosen by them are not decided jointly. One non-limitingaspect of the present invention proposes a unification sublayer toenable both Wi-Fi and LTE radios to serve the packets delivered by asingle IP connection with capabilities to jointly decide theirassociated radio parameters.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for managing flows in accordance with onenon-limiting aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic of the disparate physical layerprocessing contemplated by one non-limiting aspect of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a method for managing an IP flow inaccordance with one non-limiting aspect of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosedherein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodimentsare merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in variousand alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; somefeatures may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particularcomponents. Therefore, specific structural and functional detailsdisclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as arepresentative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variouslyemploy the present invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 10 for managing flows 12 in accordance withone non-limiting aspect of the present invention. The flows 12 maycorrespond with any data transmission dependent on a session, stream orother signaling carried through one or more network elements 14, 16, 18according to Internet Protocol (IP) based processes. The InternetEngineering Task Force (IETF) request for comment (RFC) 7011, entitledSpecification of the IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Protocol for theExchange of Flow Information, the disclosure of which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety herein, describes a flow astraffic carried on a data network as packets or frames 20. It notespackets belonging to a particular flow 12 have a set of commonproperties, such as one or more packet header fields (e.g., destinationIP address), transport header fields (e.g., destination port number), orapplication header fields (e.g., RTP header fields [RFC3550]).Optionally, a set of packets 20 represented by a flow 12 may be empty atleast in so far as the flow may represent zero or more packets. A flowrecord may contain information about a specific flow 12 that wasobserved at a network element having capabilities sufficient to operateas an observation point. The flow record may contain measured propertiesof the flow 12 (e.g., the total number of bytes for all the flow'spackets) and in some cases characteristic properties of the flow (e.g.,source/destination IP addresses).

Various mechanism may be employed to construct a flow 12, such as butnot necessarily limited to Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP)where the corresponding flow may be a transport session known as a SCTPassociation, Transport Control Protocol (TCP) where the correspondingflow may be a transport session known as a TCP connection uniquelyidentified by the combination of IP addresses and TCP ports used andUser Datagram Protocol (UDP) where the corresponding flow may be atransport session known as a UDP session uniquely identified by thecombination of IP addresses and UDP ports used. IETF RFC 6089, entitledFlow Bindings in Mobile IPv6 and Network Mobility (NEMO) Basic Support,the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety, defines a concept of binding one or more flows to particularIP addresses, such as a care-of address sufficient to facilitatedirecting a flow from a home address to another location (see IETF RFC5648, entitled Multiple Care-of Addresses Registration, the disclosureof which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, foradditional detail regarding use of a care-of addresses).

RFC 6089 notes the following flow related terminology:

-   -   Flow: A flow is a sequence of packets for which the mobile node        (MN) desires special handling either by the home agent (HA), the        corresponding node (CN) or the mobility anchor point (MAP).    -   Traffic Selector: One or more parameters that can be matched        against fields in the packet's headers for the purpose of        classifying a packet. Examples of such parameters include the        source and destination IP addresses, transport protocol number,        the source and destination port numbers, and other fields in IP        and higher-layer headers.    -   Flow binding: It consists of a traffic selector, and one or more        binding identifiers (BIDs). IP packets from one or more flows        that match the traffic selector associated with the flow binding        are forwarded to the BIDs associated with the same flow binding.    -   Flow Identifier: A flow identifier uniquely identifies a flow        binding associated with a mobile node. It is generated by a        mobile node and is cached in the table of flow binding entries        maintained by the MN, HA, CN, or MAP.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary configuration where the network elements14, 16, 18 facilitating an IP flow 12 correspond with a network 14, anaccess point 16 and a device 18. The network 14 may correspond with anytype of network having capabilities sufficient to facilitate providingany number of services to the device via a session or other mechanismsupporting the IP flow, such as but not necessary limited to voice overInternet protocol (VoIP), conventional video, non-conventional video(e.g HD, VHD, UHD), Web traffic, file or data downloads (file transferprotocol (FTP)) and other types of services. The services may be sourcedfrom a cable television provider, an Internet service provider (ISP), acellular telephone provider, and over-the-top (OTT) content provider orvirtually any other type of service providers having capabilitiessufficient to facilitate transmitting data necessary to support theattendant services according to IP-based standards. The foregoingreferences to IP flows are provided for exemplary non-limiting purposesto demonstrate one use of the present invention mechanism by which IPflows may be defined and differentiated. The IP flow 12 may correspondwith any flow having a plurality of packets addressed to the same IPaddress, e.g., an IP version 4 (IPv4) or IP version 6 (IPv6) destinationaddress associated with the device or other destination, or otherwisecommonly associated.

The IP flow 12 is shown to include a flow identifier 24, one or moretraffic selectors 26 and a plurality of IP packets 20 addressed to an IPaddress of the device (IP#1) 18. The flow identifier 24 maycorresponding with that described above to provide a unique identifiersufficient for differentiating the IP flow 12 from other IP flows beingtransmitted to the access point 16. The traffic selector or multipletraffic selectors 26 may correspond with that described above todifferentiate services associated with corresponding IP packets 20,e.g., a plurality of IP packets 20 having the same destination address(IP#1) may be included within the flow 12 to provide multiple servicesto the device. The present invention is predominately described withrespect to the IP flow 12 being sourced from a provider connected to thenetwork (e.g., Internet or service provider) for delivery via the accesspoint 16 to the device 18 such that a corresponding direction of the IPflow 12 may be considered to be downstream. The present invention is notnecessary so limited and fully contemplates its use and application infacilitating similar IP flows in an upstream direction, such as from thedevice 18 to the source or other destination connected to the network 14via the access point 16.

One non-limiting aspect of the present invention contemplates managingthe IP flow 12 using disparate physical layers (PHYs) 32, 34, 36, 38 ofthe access point 16 and the device 16. The PHY 32, 34, 36, 38 of thedevice 18 and the access point 16 may correspond with radio interfacesor other interfaces having capabilities sufficient to physicallyexchange signals. FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary configuration wherethe access point 26 acts as a wireless signaling source havingcapabilities sufficient to facilitate exchanging wireless signals withthe device 18 using one or both of a Wi-Fi operable PHY (Wi-Fi PHY) 32,36 and an LTE operable PHY (LTE PHY) 34, 38. The Wi-Fi PHY 32, 36 andthe LTE PHY 34, 38 may correspond with features included on each of thedevice 18 and the access point 16 to facilitate Wi-Fi signaling and LTEsignaling, i.e., the exchange of Wi-Fi packets and/or LTE packets. TheWi-Fi and LTE PHY 32, 34, 36, 38 may correspond with layers commensuratewith those associated with the Open Systems Interconnection model (OSI)defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO),referenced as ISO/IEC 7498-1, the disclosure of which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety. The Wi-Fi and LTE PHYs 32,34, 36, 38 may operate with corresponding Wi-Fi and LTE data link layers40, 42, 44, 46 (media access control (MAC) layers) to facilitate signalprocessing, addressing and other operations necessary for preparingsignaling (e.g., packets, frames, etc.) for physical exchange through acorresponding PHY 32, 34, 36, 38.

One non-limiting aspect of the present invention contemplates aunification sublayer 50, 52 being configured as a logical interfacebetween the Wi-Fi PHY 32, 36 and LTE PHY 34, 38 and a network/transportlayer 54, 56. The network/transport layer 54, 56 may be an IP layerhaving capabilities sufficient to facilitate processing signalingphysically exchanged through the Wi-Fi and LTE PHYs 32, 34, 36, 38 foruse with a processor, application or other logically functioning elementof the device 18 and the access point 16 operable in response to thedata included therein. The network/transport layer 54, 56 is labeled asan IP layer as one non-limiting aspect of the present inventioncontemplates transporting IP flows or data communicated according toIP-based protocols through the disparate PHY layers 32, 34, 36, 38 ofthe device 18 and the access point 16, e.g., the Wi-Fi and LTE PHYs 32,34, 36, 38. The IP layer 54, 56 may be configured as a non-IP layerwithout deviating from the scope and contemplation of the presentinvention in the event other network/transport protocols are utilized tosupport the flow 12. The use an IP layer 54, 56 is predominatelydescribed as IP-based communications, particularly those relying on theillustrate IP flow 12, are relatively prevalent and operable with manydevices.

The unification layer 50, 52 may be configured to facilitate processingIP flows between the Wi-Fi and LTE MAC 40, 42, 44, 46 and PHY layers 32,34, 36, 38 according to a partitioning process contemplated herein toleverage capabilities particular to Wi-Fi and LTE based communications.The Wi-Fi and LTE based communications are predominately noted forexemplary purposes as representative of interfaces used in many devicesand without necessarily intending to limit the applicability of thepresent invention as other wireless and/or wireline interfaces havingdisparate operating considerations may similarly be used withoutdeviating from the scope and contemplation of the present invention.Wireless signaling between the device 18 and the access point 16 mayexperience differing levels of throughput, quality of service (QoS),signaling range and any number of other operational considerationsdependent on any number of factors, e.g., the access point 16 may beallocated limited licensed spectrum for LTE signaling in comparison tothe unlicensed spectrum for Wi-Fi (or vice versa), the access point 16may experience throughput degradation or funneling when supportingcommunications with other Wi-Fi connected devices (e.g., when supportingcommunity Wi-Fi in the manner described in U.S. patent application Ser.No. 14/537,845, entitled Network Traffic Prioritization, the disclosureof which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety herein),etc.

The unification sublayer 50, 52 may be configured in accordance with thepresent invention to take advantage of capabilities and/order tominimize the disadvantages of the capabilities associated with the LTEand Wi-Fi PHYs 32, 34, 36, 38. The unification sublayer 50, 52 mayidentify desirable operating conditions for each of the Wi-Fi and LTEPHYs 32, 34, 36, 38 and to partition the IP packets 20 included in theIP flow 12 as a function thereof. The unification sublayer 50, 52 may beconfigured to buffer the IP packets 20 and thereafter encapsulate anentirety of IP packets 20 within corresponding Wi-Fi and/or LTE packets60, 62 depending on whether the partitioning dictates subsequentexchange through a corresponding one of the Wi-Fi and LTE PHYs 32, 34,36, 38. The unification sublayer 50, 52 may be configured to operatewithin the addressing constraints of the IP flow 12, such as to enableeach of the IP packets 20 to be addressed to the same destinationaddress (IP#1) while enabling some of the IP packets 20 to be exchangedthrough the Wi-Fi PHY 32, 36 and some of the other IP packets 20 to beexchanged through the LTE PHY 34, 38, optionally with the packets 60, 62being simultaneously exchanged through each of the Wi-Fi and LTE PHYs32, 34, 36, 38. The ability to facilitate use of the disparate physicallayers of the access point 16 and the device 18 to enable transport ofthe IP flow 20 may be particularly beneficial in enabling the source orother device originating or receiving the IP flow 12 to utilize a singledestination/source address (IP#1).

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic 70 of the disparate physical layerprocessing contemplated by one non-limiting aspect of the presentinvention. The schematic 70 may apply to upstream IP flows sourced fromthe device 18 to the access point 16 and/or downstream flows sourcedfrom the access point 18 to the device 16. The upstream flows maycorrespond with the device 18 performing various processes or receivingvarious commands for transmitting an IP flow to a destination associatedwith the network 14 and the attendant processing performed at the device18 to facilitate transporting at least a portion of the corresponding IPpackets 20 through the Wi-Fi and LTE PHYs 32, 34, 36, 38 to the wirelessaccess point 18 for subsequent re-combination and transmission as the IPflow 12 over the network 14. The downstream flows may correspond withthe access point 18 performing various processes in response toreceiving an IP flow 12 over the network 14 for transport to the device18 and the attendant processing performed to facilitate transporting atleast a portion of the corresponding IP packets 20 through the Wi-Fi andLTE PHYs 32, 34, 36, 38 to the device 18 for subsequent re-combinationinto the IP flow for use with an application associated therewith.

The processes illustrated in FIG. 2 are shown for exemplary non-limitingpurposes to correspond with a downstream flows where an IP flow 12 isreceived at the access point 16 for wireless transmit to the device 18.As noted above and as appreciated by one having ordinary skill in art,similar processes may be performed at the device 18 to facilitateupstream signaling from the device 18 to the access point 16 and in areverse order to facilitate re-constructing the IP flow 12. The IP layer54, 56 may be configured to identify a plurality of IP packets 20included within the IP flow 12, optionally including identifying theflow identifier, any traffic selectors and/or addressing associated witheach IP packet 20. Each received IP packet 20 or the IP packetsassociated with a particular flow identifier may be routed to theunification layer 50, 52 for a partitioning/buffering process 72. Thepartitioning/buffering process 72 may include the identification ofmultiple flows and identifying whether the corresponding IP packets 20are to be subsequently transported through one or both of the Wi-Fi andLTE PHYs 32, 34, 36, 38. While the present invention fully contemplatestransporting IP packets 20 for a particular IP flow through a single oneof the Wi-Fi and LTE PHYs 32, 34, 36, 38, the exemplary descriptionhereinafter assumes a partitioning where at least a portion of the IPpackets 20 for a particular flow 12 are to be transported through bothof the Wi-Fi and LTE PHYs 32, 34, 36, 38.

The buffering portion of the partitioning/buffering operation 72 mayinclude the buffering of IP packets 20 for a period of time sufficientfor identifying subsequent routing through one of the Wi-Fi and LTE PHYs32, 34, 36, 38. The partitioning portion of the partitioning/bufferingoperation 72 may correspond with the unification layer 50, 52 decidingwhich portion of the IP packets 20 are to be transported using the Wi-FiPHY 32, 36 and which portion are to be transported using the LTE PHY 34,38, and optionally any partitioning adjustments or variations to beperformed as conditions change while the IP flow 12 is being transmittedto the device 18. The unification sublayer 50, 52 may operate with theWi-Fi MAC layer 40, 44 to facilitate generating Wi-Fi packets 60 for theIP packets 20 to be transmitted through the Wi-Fi PHY 32, 36. The Wi-FiMAC layer 40, 42 may generate the Wi-Fi packets 60 by encapsulating anentirety of each IP packet 20 in one or more corresponding Wi-Fi packets60, such as by including an entirety of one IP packet as a payloadwithin one Wi-Fi packet 60 having a Wi-Fi header 74. The Wi-Fi header 74may add forward error correction (FEC), addressing and/or other datanecessary to facilitate subsequent transmission of the Wi-Fi packets 60through a Wi-Fi radio 76. The unification sublayer may operate similarlywith the LTE MAC layer 42, 46 to facilitate encapsulating IP packets 20as payload within LTE packets 62 having LTE headers 78 to facilitatesubsequent transmission of the LTE packets 62 through an LTE radio 80.

The device 18 and/or the access point 16 may operate as a dual-radiodevice operable in an LTE mode, Wi-Fi mode, or dual-radio mode. To makethis decision, parameters like number of LTE-only devices, number ofWi-Fi-only devices, number of dual-radio devices, topology and relativepositions of devices to each other, the channel condition to each device(for a dual-radio device, channel condition on both licensed andunlicensed spectrum) and device capabilities (MIMO, etc.) may be takeninto account to decide whether IP packets should be routed solely to theWi-Fi PHY (Wi-Fi mode), solely to the LTE PHY (LTE mode) or to both ofthe Wi-Fi and LTE PHYs (dual-radio mode). Some example decisions may beas follows:

-   -   When the channel between the access point 16 and the device 18,        or additional devices connected to the same channel or otherwise        associated with the access point 16, is time varying on both        licensed and unlicensed frequencies, for a given frame/packet,        if the channel condition of the unlicensed (licensed) band is        much better than that of the licensed (unlicensed) band, the        unification sublayer 50, 52 may direct all of the IP traffic to        one of the Wi-Fi and LTE radio, which may provide advantageous        diversity.    -   If the channel conditions on both licensed and unlicensed        frequencies are good, the unification sublayer 50, 52 may split        the IP traffic to both Wi-Fi and LTE radios.    -   If a dual-radio mode is operating Wi-Fi-only mode and running an        application that requires a consistent throughput, when the        device 18 is moving away from the access point 16, the LTE radio        of the device 18 can become active and as the distance increases        so that increasingly larger number of subcarriers can be used to        compensate the Wi-Fi throughput loss by communicating more IP        packets through the LTE radio 80.    -   In a scenario where a dual-radio device 18 is close to the        access point 16, and an LTE-only device running a        throughput-intensive application is far, the unification        sublayer 50, 52 may use all of the LTE subcarriers for the far        device and connect to the dual-radio device using Wi-Fi.    -   If the number of Wi-Fi only devices is large, the unification        sublayer 50, 52 may direct the traffic destined to a dual radio        device to the LTE radio.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart 84 of a method for managing an IP flow inaccordance with one non-limiting aspect of the present invention. Themethod may be embodied in a non-transitory computer-readable mediumhaving a plurality of non-transitory instructions operable with adevice, an access point or other network element having capabilitiessufficient to facilitate signaling through to disparate wireless and/orwireline interfaces, such as but not necessary limited to the dual-modedevice and access point described above having capabilities sufficientto facilitate exchanging signaling through Wi-Fi and LTE radios. Block86 relates to determining an IP flow desired for transport in accordancewith the present invention. The IP flow may correspond with a pluralityof packets transported to a common destination address and associatedwith a common flow identifier, e.g., each IP packet included within theflow may have the same destination address and be associated with thesame flow identifier.

Block 88 relates to determining a plurality of IP packets includedwithin the IP flow. The IP packets may be identified in real-time as thepackets are being received as part of the IP flow and/or in advance as afunction of outputs from an encoder or other processor tasked withgenerating the IP flow for transport. In the event the IP flow relatesto an upstream transmission, such as from the device 18 to the accesspoint 16, the IP flow may be determined from an application or otherfeature on the device 18, and in the event the IP flow relates to adownstream transmission, such as from the access point 16 to the device16, the IP flow may be determined as a function of signaling transportedto the access point 16 from a source connected to the network 12. Thepackets may be individually identified according to headers and/orpayloads or other identifying information included therein to facilitatetransport of corresponding content/data. In the event frames or otherdata groupings are utilized in place of or in addition to packets, thoseadditional constructs may be similarly identified and processedaccording to the operations contemplated herein.

Block 90 relates to partitioning the IP packets to disparate PHYs, suchas but not necessarily limited to the Wi-Fi and LTE PHYs. Thepartitioning may be an ongoing process where each packet retrieved fromthe IP flow is individually assessed for the purposes of determiningwhether it should be subsequently transported using one of the Wi-Fi andLTE radios. One non-limiting aspect of the present invention presumes adual-mode of operation where it may be desirable to partition a singleIP flow for simultaneous transmission over the Wi-Fi and LTE radios. Asnoted above, this dual-mode operation may be implemented for aparticular IP flow while a non-dual-mode operation may be implementedfor other IP flows, i.e., some IP flows may be transported through bothof the Wi-Fi and LTE radios and other IP flows may be transportedthrough one of the Wi-Fi and LTE radios. The partitioning decision maybe dynamic and variable such that the partitioning may be constantlyadjusted as network operating constraints fluctuate.

Optionally, a traffic selector or other identifier included with the inthe IP flow to identify traffic type or other characteristics of the IPpackets may be utilized to facilitate the partitioning. The trafficselector partitioning may be used to route a one type of traffic (andthe corresponding packets) to one of the Wi-Fi and LTE radios andanother type of traffic (and the corresponding packets) to the other oneof the Wi-Fi and LTE radios. The traffic selector partitioning may alsobe used to partition traffic types according to a predeterminedrelationship, e.g., one traffic type may include a 25/75 split to theWi-Fi/LTE radios and another traffic type may include a 50/50 split ofIP packets between the Wi-Fi/LTE radios. In the event the IP flow isused to carry data for multiple clients, such as when the access pointmulticast service(s) to multiple devices (the IP low may have adestination address common to each packet as the access point), packetshaving certain traffic types may directed to the Wi-Fi radio, e.g., forWi-Fi only devices and/or to utilize unlicensed spectrum, and packetshaving certain traffic types may be directed to the LTE radio, e.g., forLTE only device and/or to utilize licensed spectrum or diversity.

Blocks 92, 94 relate to encapsulating the IP packets into correspondingWi-Fi and LTE packets and their subsequent transmission through thecorresponding Wi-Fi/LTE radio. The encapsulation may be performed byensconcing an entirety of each IP packet, including the payload andheader as received, within a payload of a corresponding one of theWi-Fi/LTE packets. Wi-Fi/LTE headers may be respectively added to theWi-Fi/LTE payloads in order to facilitate transmissions in compliancewith the standards associated therewith. Block 96 relates to recoveringthe IP packets from the Wi-Fi/LTE packets transmitted in Block 94. Therecovery of the IP packets may include the unification sublayerfacilitating the decapsulation of the Wi-Fi/LTE packets and subsequentcollation of the IP packets according to the network/transport layerrequirements attendant to IP-based communications, i.e., retrieving theIP packets from the payloads of the Wi-Fi and LTE packets.

As supported above, one non-limiting aspect of the present inventioncontemplates a unification sublayer that sits on top of the LTE andWi-Fi. This sub-layer receives the packets from the IP layer andpartitions the IP traffic and direct the packets to each of the twoavailable radios. By using this unification sub-layer, the IP layertakes advantage of both available LTE and Wi-Fi radio/spectrum. Inaddition, this sub-layer may be responsible to merge the MAC layerframes received from the two radios and deliver them to the IP layer.The unification sub-layer provides a logical interface between the Wi-FiPHY (MAC) and LTE PHY (MAC) such that LTE and Wi-Fi PHY and MAC layerscan talk and the parameters chosen by each radio is selected jointly tooptimize the overall performance.

While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended thatthese embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather,the words used in the specification are words of description rather thanlimitation, and it is understood that various changes may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may becombined to form further embodiments of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wireless access point comprising: a networklayer configured to facilitate exchanging an Internet protocol (IP) flowwith an outside network; a first physical layer (PHY) configured toexchange wireless signals with wireless devices in proximity thereto; asecond PHY configured to exchange wireless signals with wireless devicesin proximity thereto; a unification sublayer configured to act as alogical interface between the network layer and the first and secondPHYs, including facilitating partitioning of at least a first portion ofa plurality of IP packets carried in the IP flow through the first PHYas first packets and partitioning at least a second portion of theplurality of IP packets through the second PHY as second packets;wherein the unification sublayer is configured to: i) determine channelconditions for channels associated with each of the first and secondPHYs; ii) select the IP packets for transport respectively as the firstand second packets according to the corresponding channel conditions;wherein the first PHY is a cellular PHY configured to transport thefirst packets as cellular packets and the second PHY is a non-cellularPHY configured to transport the second packets as non-cellular packets;a cellular media access control (MAC) layer between the unificationlayer and the cellular PHY, the cellular MAC layer being configured toencapsulate the IP packets for transport as the cellular packets; anon-cellular MAC layer between the unification sublayer and thenon-cellular PHY, the non-cellular MAC layer being configured toencapsulate the IP packets for transport as the non-cellular packets;wherein the cellular MAC layer addresses a header of each of thecellular packets to a first device as a function of an IP destinationaddress included within the corresponding IP packets; wherein thenon-cellular MAC layer addresses a header of each of the non-cellularpackets to the first device as a function of an IP destination addressincluded within the corresponding IP packets; and wherein each of the IPpackets in the IP flow being partitioned to the cellular andnon-cellular PHYs includes the same IP destination address.
 2. Thewireless access point of claim 1 wherein the unification sublayer isconfigured to facilitate partitioning the IP packets such that the firstPHY transports at least a portion of the first packets to the firstdevice while the second PHY simultaneously transports at least a portionof the second packets to the first device.
 3. The wireless access pointof claim 1 further comprising: a first data link layer between theunification sublayer and the first PHY, the first data link layer beingconfigured to encapsulate the IP packets for transport from the firstPHY as the first packets; and a second data link layer between theunification sublayer and the second PHY, the second data link layerbeing configured to encapsulate the IP packets for transport from thesecond PHY as the second packets.
 4. The wireless access point of claim3 wherein each of the first and second data link layers are configuredto encapsulate a payload and a header of each IP packet into a payloadof one or more of the corresponding first and second packets.
 5. Thewireless access point of claim 1 wherein the unification sublayer isconfigured to determine the channel conditions as normal when throughputof the corresponding channel is within a normal operational range and asabnormal when throughput of the corresponding channel is beyond thenormal operational range, including equally splitting the IP packetsbetween the first and second PHYs if channel conditions are normal andunequally splitting the IP packets when the channels conditions areabnormal.
 6. The wireless access point of claim 1 wherein the cellularPHY is configured to transport the cellular packets as Long TermEvolution (LTE) packets.
 7. The wireless access point of claim 1 whereinthe non-cellular PHY is configured to transport the cellular packets asWi-Fi packets.
 8. A wireless device comprising: a network layerconfigured to facilitate generating an Internet protocol (IP) flow; acellular physical layer (PHY) configured to exchange wireless signalswith an access point; a non-cellular PHY configured to exchange wirelesssignals with the access point; a unification sublayer configured to actas a logical interface between the network layer and the first andsecond PHYs, including facilitating partitioning of at least a firstportion of a plurality of IP packets carried in the IP flow through thefirst PHY as first packets and partitioning at least a second portion ofthe plurality of IP packets through the second PHY as second packets;wherein the unification sublayer is configured to: i) determine channelconditions for channels associated with each of the first and secondPHYs; ii) select the IP packets for transport respectively as the firstand second packets according to the corresponding channel conditions; acellular media access control (MAC) layer between the unification layerand the cellular PHY, the cellular MAC layer being configured toencapsulate the IP packets for transport as cellular packets; anon-cellular MAC layer between the unification sublayer and thenon-cellular PHY, the non-cellular MAC layer being configured toencapsulate the IP packets for transport as non-cellular packets;wherein the cellular MAC layer addresses a header of each of thecellular packets to a first device as a function of an IP destinationaddress included within the corresponding IP packets; wherein thenon-cellular MAC layer addresses a header of each of the non-cellularpackets to the first device as a function of an IP destination addressincluded within the corresponding IP packets; and wherein each of the IPpackets in the IP flow being partitioned to the cellular andnon-cellular PHYs includes the same IP destination address.
 9. Thewireless device of claim 8 wherein the unification sublayer isconfigured to facilitate partitioning the IP packets such that the firstPHY transports at least a portion of the first packets to the accesspoint while the second PHY simultaneously transports at least a portionof the second packets to the access point.
 10. The wireless device ofclaim 8 further comprising: a first data link layer between theunification sublayer and the first PHY, the first data link layer beingconfigured to encapsulate the IP packets for transport from the firstPHY as the first packets; and a second data link layer between theunification sublayer and the second PHY, the second data link layerbeing configured to encapsulate the IP packets for transport from thesecond PHY as the second packets.
 11. The wireless device of claim 10wherein each of the first and second data link layers are configured toencapsulate a payload and a header of each IP packet into a payload ofone or more of the corresponding first and second packets.
 12. Thewireless device of claim 8 wherein the unification sublayer isconfigured to determine the channel conditions as normal when throughputof the corresponding channel is within a normal operational range and asabnormal when throughput of the corresponding channel is beyond thenormal operational range, including equally splitting the IP packetsbetween the first and second PHYs if channel conditions are normal andunequally splitting the IP packets when the channels conditions areabnormal.
 13. The wireless device of claim 8 wherein the cellular PHY isconfigured to transport the cellular packets as Long Term Evolution(LTE) packets.
 14. The wireless device of claim 8 wherein thenon-cellular PHY is configured to transport the cellular packets asWi-Fi packets.